Exactly my thoughts. Whitman only has experience managing a business that was dominant in their area and due to first-comer advantage, basically had virtually no other companies that could come close to their effective monopoly position.

Yet - as you said, Ebay survived rather than succeeded. HP is a whole different kettle of fish - beset by rabid competitors on all side and without any significant advantages over any of them. At this stage, Whitman seems a really poor choice who will be immediately out of her depth in running HP.